Tubes are fun, rolling them can turn into an obsession. Great advice already, if you can, identify the sound signature you are after. It can vary depending on design. Some designs lean into tube magic, bloom. Other designs focus on bridging the gap between SS and Tube amplification often leading to Tube amps that sound more like SS amps with a touch of Tube magic. If you are new to tubes if you can find a unit with auto bias / bad tub indicators it will ease you into the maintenance of keeping Tube amps running, sounding there best a bit easier.
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@scotthiga If you really want to experience what tubes are all about suggest you do a simple SET integrated with a full range driver. Check out Analogue Ethos. You can do a kit or prebuilt. Beautiful cosmetics and I suspect great sounding as well. Other great options would be Erhard Audio, Elekit, AN kits, among others. Pair that up with an Omega speaker (or similar efficient easy to drive design). Certainly you could go with a push-pull tube design if you want something to drive your current speakers. Just keep in mind not all speakers play well with tube amps. Synergy is key. Otherwise, you could end up with something inferior to your current amp. (BTW, it would be helpful if you post more info on your system. Otherwise, you will get many random opinions--including mine.) |
Thanks for the many and interesting responses. I own Klipsch Heresy IV’s (99 dB sensitivity) and Omega DynaTen XRS’s (90 db sensitivity). On both speaker sets I’ve paired them with REL T9x subwoofers. Electronics on the Omega DynaTen XRS’s is a Naim Uniti Atom. The Klipsch Heresy IV’s are paired with a Technics SU-G700. Both systems use Maze Audio cables. Music is streamed (I don't own a turntable). The Klipsch Heresy IV's use a BluSound Node 2i for streaming. Thanks for your continuing commentary! |
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